Sakarya/Adapazari

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center

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A three-story wood-frame structure built in the early 1900s. The ground floor received the heaviest damage. The gentleman with the blue coat and white hat is the owner. Before the earthquake, he was planning to renovate the structure. Sakarya is to the east of Izmit, north of Arifiye, and west of Duzce. The provincial capital of Sakarya is Adapazari.

On August 17, 1999, at 3:02 am local time (00:02 GMT) a magnitude (Mw) 7.4 earthquake occurred on the northern Anatolian fault. The epicenter was located very close to the south shore of the Bay of Izmit, an eastward extension of the Marmara Sea. The location of this earthquake and its proximity to a populous region on the Bay of Izmit contributed greatly to its damaging effects. The total estimated loss for port facilities in the region was around $200 million (US). Subsidence and slumping caused much of the coastal damage, but a tsunami was generated that also caused coastal damage and deaths.